Reddit mascots are displayed at the company's headquarters in San Francisco.)
–Robert Galbraith/REUTERS

By

Shannon McMahon

May 16, 2014

Along with the trees and holiday cookies, Secret Santa is a decades-old Christmas tradition. It’s a gift exchange everyone loves— so much so that a global gift exchange has been created for those who just can’t wait a whole year to do another.

While you probably won’t be playing in the snow or hanging decorations this June, you can take part in Reddit’s Arbitrary Day. Redditgifts.com launched Reddit Arbitrary Day in 2009 as a “half-Christmas’’ holiday. It’s celebrated exactly six months after Christmas, giving participants a small dose of holiday cheer during the warm summer months.

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“This Reddit holiday was created as a response to the overwhelming outpour of happiness and joy that was experienced during our first Secret Santa,’’ said the event’s website. “Since then, it has grown to over 100,000 participants.’’

Reddit randomly assigns each user a santa, and in the past the participant pool has included celebrities like Bill Gates, Shaquille O’Neal, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Pee-wee Herman.

Yes, that means they all both gave and received gifts.

But if you’re hoping to get some cash from a rich and famous santa, don’t get your hopes up. In Reddit Secret Santa 2013 Bill Gates gave a teenage girl a stuffed-animal cow and a certificate showing that an actual cow had been given to an impoverished family in her honor, through Heifer International.

In similar fashion, Arnold Schwarzenegger gave a woman a bottle of wine, drew her a picture of her cat, and made a large donation in her honor to an after-school program.

You can test your luck at getting a celebrity santa and spread some Arbitrary Day cheer next month if you sign up by May 26 at redditgifts.com.